Blogs from Chartres, Centre, France, Europe - page 2

A lie in – well until 7.30am, the plan was to have a day off and a long lie in and were wide awake at silly o’clock. Needless to say Woolly slept and lazed the whole day away. Although a small site, Camping des Illettes is basic but has everything you need (well except Wifi), and at 24 Euro (approximately £20.10 GBP) for two nights it was good value for money, Motorhomes would only have to pay an extra 2.50 Euro a night for hook up so a good deal for all. Woolly says – I was conserving my energy, after Jo had cooked a big breakfast for all of us I found a nice comfy chair to sit in the sun and watch them do all the clothes washing, empty Oliver out and resort his ... read more

As we drove to Chartres the little town of Provins was still on our minds. The wonderful walk which took us down narrow medieval lanes, past Jewish merchants houses and the lovely french square. Tree lined, the sun shining it was such a lovely place. Roses were everywhere, in the gardens, rose essence in the shops, rose scented tea, rose flavoured cakes. The damask rose was brought to the town and had become its emblem. Chartres on the other hand was going to be very different. We parked up at the nearest site to the city advertised as being within walking distance. We have learned through experience not to believe everything you read about sites. Walking distance can mean so many things to different people. What is walking distance for one person is too far for ... read more

Today we visited Chartres, a city about 20 kilometres from where we are staying. Our hotel is in Illiers-Combray a small rural town that has become quite famous thanks to the writings of the French essayist, Marcel Proust. The town, Illiers, was the setting for the town Combray in Proust’s book “À la recherche du temps perdu” (Remembrance of Things Past) and so the locals added Combray to the name Illiers, so we have the name Illiers-Combray. Our drive into Chartres took us to the town centre and we disappeared underground into an enormous car park that seemed to run the length of the boulevard above and two levels deep. Emerging into the square, it was quite enjoyable to sit and be entertained by two children frolicking in the fountain sculpture while we indulged in pastries. ... read more

The Wedding As everyone knows there was a lot of preparation for this wedding … dress, shoes, bag and … a hat in hatbox that met Airbus overhead cabin storage requirements! The wedding was in Brou - not far from Chartres and a 1 ½ hour drive from Paris. I was to get a lift with a member of the family - Patrick - who was also picking up 2 high-school students who had to go to school on Saturday!! (Bet you’re glad that’s not you Doug?) We found each other easily enough and set off - about 1.45pm for a 3pm wedding! I still had to press my dress … do all the other bits … and most passengers in the car had yet to tog-up for the occasion … in fact one guy was ... read more

I have always been sort of a sucker for a conspiracy. I have always loved to read books that would indicate that perhaps things are not are they seem. This type of attitude is exactly what brought me and I am sure many other people to the French Cathedral city of Chartres. The train ride to Chartres is a very pleasant one. Although, I did leave Strasbourg a littel later than I had originally planned. Seems that everyone in Strasbourg was going to Paris and got their ticket right before me. Oh well. When I got to Paris, I arrived at Gare d' l'est. I needed to get to Montparnesse which is clear across town. SInce I have never ridden the Metro in Paris, I was afraid I might get a bit confused. But, when I ... read more